RIP Rodney King " Can't we all just get along?"
 

He was found in his pool at home in Rialto. He was 47 years old.

I like to think that most anyone would not think he deserved that infamous beat down captured on camera. Try not to crap in a eulogy thread if you please.

I hope that his famous question will be on his headstone.
In the midst of hate and outrage he asked ,"Why can't we all just get along?" as LA torched itself once again. I'll never forget those huge columns of smoke rising up straight into the sky across the skyline to the north of my home.
It looked like a bad Hollywood horror flick that day. Kind of apocalyptic and sad if you ask me.

I agree and also hope none would believe he deserved the beating.

As to watching L.A. burn (again for you):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhfrB...28FF95F4D91DBB

;)

I happened to be on a fishing trip a little off the coast here in Orange Co. at the time and we had this amazing view of montrous black towers of smoke rising up into a windless sky then spreading out. I saw the aftermath of the Watts riots firsthand as a kid, it is not a pretty sight seeing your neighborhood burnt to the ground because that POS Mayor Sam Yorty held back the LAFD until it was too late to keep the fires contained.
I certainly hope he's at peace now. I have to wonder how much of his life he left on the pavement that day. No one deserves the treatment he suffered for speaking their mind at a cop. Preserve and Protect, LAPD's motto, was dealt a blow that day and that Simi Valley jury deserves a lot of the blame for the subsequent riots, IMO.
We added a couple dispicable phrases to our language from that time. LAPD radio transcripts quoted some unnamed officers opinioning that there were "NO Human Involved" and referencing blacks as "Gorillas in the Mist."

I guess California isn't as progressive as some like to think? (it still isn't, largely.)IMO

With respects.

Regards,

D-Ray

What a shame, 47 is to young.




Barney

1. 47 is too young.
2. Rodney had problems for years.
3. He was on PCP and would not comply with verbal instructions.
4. What the LA Police did is what they were trained to do.
5. Lot's of blame to go around. (Drugs? Training? Mob mentality?)

Number one is the most truthful of these missives.

RIP Rodney.

(And, I have met idiots who do believe he deserved it. I'm sure we all have.)

Anyone remember Reginald Denny? The truckdriver who was nearly beaten to death during the riots leaving him with permanent brain damage......He was in the news briefly about a year ago. Apparently he speaks out against racism, because Klansmen and Neo-Nazis tried to make a posterchild of him after his beating. He said, "It's amazing how quick people are to overlook the fact that, while it was black men who beat me, it was also Black people who put themselves in danger to save my life that day."

You go, Reginald!!

Dave

Yup! It was a scary thing watching what happened to him as well. Glad he chose the high road.

Btw, here's a take on old Rodney...

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/730719.html

Pete

Surely not worth it at all, all of it. That's what you were getting at, I believe.:)